The Miz Wants CM Punk Wrestling With A Chip On His Shoulder

The Miz is fully on board with the frustrated version of CM Punk that showed up after SummerSlam.

Punk, the reigning WWE Champion, cut a pointed promo following the event on Saturday, August 8, in which he expressed some real frustration about not being featured in the show’s main event slot. It was a departure from Punk’s usual buoyant, crowd-pleasing energy — sharper, more personal, and clearly coming from a place of genuine irritation rather than scripted bravado.

The Miz took notice, and he liked what he saw. According to comments he made, Miz wants to see more of that edge from Punk going forward — a champion who feels slighted and wrestles like he has something to prove, rather than someone coasting on nostalgia and crowd adoration.

It’s an interesting take, and not necessarily a surprising one coming from Miz, who has spent much of his career playing the agitator who thrives on being doubted or overlooked. He knows the value of a chip-on-the-shoulder performer in WWE’s ecosystem — that type of character often generates the most compelling long-term storytelling, because frustration and resentment give a wrestler an internal engine that pure heroics can’t replicate.

For Punk, this moment is worth watching closely. Since his high-profile return to WWE, the promotion has largely built his presentation around feel-good moments: homecoming pops, crowd chants, and the sense that he’s a made man who can do no wrong. That’s been effective, but it also has a shelf life. A champion who feels like he’s being shortchanged by the company — even if it’s framed as a work — opens the door to darker, meatier storytelling. It gives Punk something to play against, and it gives WWE a natural way to justify new challengers or shifting alliances heading into the fall.

Whether this was a one-off vent or the start of an actual arc remains to be seen. WWE has not publicly outlined why Punk wasn’t in the top spot at SummerSlam, and it’s unclear if the frustration Punk displayed was meant to read as a legitimate shoot-style comment on his position in the pecking order or simply a storyline beat designed to make him more sympathetic — or more dangerous — as champion. Either way, it struck a chord with at least one of his peers.

Miz’s comments add a layer of fuel to a moment that was already generating buzz. If WWE leans into this version of Punk — a titleholder who feels disrespected by the company’s own booking — it could set up a compelling stretch of programming as WWE moves toward its next major premium live event. Champions who feel wronged tend to make for great television, and if Punk channels that frustration into his in-ring work the way Miz is hoping, the WWE Championship picture could get a lot more interesting in the weeks ahead.

For now, all eyes remain on how Punk addresses this on WWE programming, and whether the company builds an actual storyline around the slight — real or perceived — that sparked this reaction in the first place.